1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle front structure.
2. Description of Related Art
Japanese Patent Publication No. 3974567 below discloses a technique that relates to a front body structure of an automobile. In a brief description, this related art adopts a structure in which a gusset (a connecting member) is attached to a lateral surface at a front end of a front side member and a front end of an apron upper member (a left upper member) is further attached to an outer surface in a vehicle width direction of this gusset. In addition, the apron upper member is formed substantially in a linear shape in a plan view.
According to the above configuration, when a head-on collision (hereinafter referred to as a “short overlap collision”) occurs in a mode that a collision load is applied to an outer side in the vehicle width direction of the front side member, the collision load at this time is applied to the apron upper member. However, since the apron upper member is formed substantially in the linear shape in this related art, the apron upper member is suppressed from being deformed, and the collision load can be received and dispersed by a front pillar.
In a case of the head-on collision such as the short overlap collision, a vehicle can move away from a collision body by generating a lateral force to an inner side in the vehicle width direction in the vehicle. However, in a vehicle front structure according to the above related art, it is configured to transmit and disperse the collision load to a rear side in the vehicle front-rear direction (in other words, the apron upper member is thrust in the vehicle front-rear direction by application of the collision load). Thus, there is room for improvement in a point that the lateral force to the inner side in the vehicle width direction is effectively generated in the vehicle. Furthermore, in the above related art, it is considered not to deform the apron upper member by the collision load. Thus, even if the apron upper member is deformed to the inner side in the vehicle width direction by the application of the collision load, a bending starting point thereof is unclear. Consequently, a mode of deformation may not be stabilized.